When do YOU say that it's done?

We've been mulching here and there, just a little bit at a time here, too. Both Anna and I hate the idea of the season being almost over, so we are making it last as long as possible .... (one man's procratination is another man's stretching of the season, Thom).

We still have so much real estate to mulch. We'll probably have it all done by, oh, Thanksgiving.

I've planted bulbs when it was beginning to snow - not on purpose, of course.

Of course not! (Me, too!) I've even poured warm water to make the soil more agreeable to digging - it takes a lot of water!

That is where a jackhammer comes in handy!

Adding that to my Christmas list!

I mulched and scaled a week or so ago and now there is one Iris trying to bloom. None of the Iris have ever bloomed before and they have been in the ground for 2 years. One of these nights a frost is gonna get that bud:(((

If you have a really tall cardboard box you can cover that iris each night and put a brick on top (or two) to keep it anchored. Remove the box each day around 9 AM and put it back each night while you still have light - maybe 5:30 or so, and you should get to see it bloom.

OK pirl. I'll do it,but you are making me break my cardinal rule, "no more driving myself crazzzy covering and uncovering every darn plant that might have a chance." I do want to see what it will be. It's either a Bearded Dover Beach or Blue Tide. It's the start of my all blue garden by the potting shed.

That should be beautiful! It's going to be worth the work when it blooms and we all want to see it!

Sounds quite painful.

Sounds like a good phrase to throw in during a party.

YES! There are a few "contorted filberts walking around my neck of the woods I'd like to "desucker!" I've been calling my DH a contorted filbert for the last couple of days!

One of the contorted filberts is known as Harry Laudner's Walking Stick.

I have to, both lovely, I have the plain old green one, and I have the red leafed one...although it didn't really hold the 'red' that well...that was a gift. They sucker like mad...usually several times a season I need to get out the cheapo pruners and snip away under the ground...if not, the thing looks all crazy. lol. They are absolutely stunning with snow covering them.

Thom, I loved your description of your methods of working in sections! I do the same thing and I think that's why I enjoy gardening as a hobby so much. One can flutter from flower to flower, so to speak, from task to task. . . and no one tells me what to do next or to hurry up (except me). Oh, it does make "winterizing" stretch out for weeks, but it's more fun.

I guess I finally say that "it's over" when the ground freezes. Or when my filbert finally contorts.

i am finding myself at a point that i will soon have to pull out annuals that still look good in order to plant bulbs.
sigh.
it really contorts my filberts to think of pulling out a perfectly good plant before it is done.

Oh, I know what you mean, I pulled out the impatiens last weekend, they looked just fine, and the begonias across the front of the house are blooming their hearts out. They go this weekend no matter what. It really beats pulling them out when they are mushy tho'. Normally by now we would have the yard all tucked in. Even the leaves are hanging around.

Yes, everything is later this year. Maybe it's following the new time for setting the clocks back.

i think the marigolds are going to have to go - i am just sick of maintaining them! IF i plant more next year, i have to find some kind of scent-proof gloves to use. I canNOT get the smell off my hands - i have used cloth gloves and plastic bags at times and the smell still stays, no matter how much i scrub. Using dish soap helps, but not enough.
They did well though - got huge! i am not a fan in general, but i got the disco ones - which i like a LOT more than the poofy ones - and each plant must have covered at least a sq. foot. i didn't know marigolds got that big!
But they are looking a little sad nowadays - not sure if it's the season or my lack of maintenance lately.
so, i think their time is up Friday.
why do i feel mean?

The end of the disco era is / was traumatic to many.

a certain smell lingers, even after repeated scrubbing?

Amy, I feel the same way about the marigolds. Quit, already!!
Yet they have been stalwart friends for months. . . and is it their scent that keeps
the pests away?

I don't like to think that I ever close up shop each year. As long as there's no snow on the ground and the arctic wind's not blowing, I always look for something to do, even if it's just a quick walk around my "back 40" (which is only 1-1/2 acres).

I remember that 70 degree spell we had in January - I dug a new bed out of a grassy area - never pass up an opportunity!

In winter I, reluctantly, keep the house clean, let my nails grow, and memorize all the seed and plant catalogs. I can't wait for the new ones each January - I keep them from the previous year so I can get a head start!

here is a "i've been bad."
i still have a division of "always afternoon" and one of the coreopsis "zagreb" on my back stairs. they seem fine - they were supposed to go to a friend who had a lot of personal issues come up and we were never able to meet up.
i shoulda gave them to the another friend - the one i was helping put in a garden with last week, but i got so annoyed when she kept me waiting for her call for 2 days that i held them back (she got lots of other stuff, including 1 AA).
uh - what do i do with them now?
i feel particularly bad because these 2 are from Thom at the RU, and i hate to abuse gifts.

throw them on the ground and dump some leaves/dirt/mulch, they'll be fine...you might just create a new bed. 'Always Afternoon' is one of those DL's that is not fussy, at all, they aren't up there with the ditch lilies, but they are pretty tough, and 'Zagreb'...i really think it's quite the masochistic plant, minus the inuendo...it can handle abuse.

Usually, once the ground is hard, and I can't possibly do anything else...it's when I google the bejeezus out of Hosta cultivars, and Daylily hybridizers. I renew my garden mag subscribtions...or start anew with one I haven't had. I go to my old haunts, Naylor Creek, Brent and Beckys, Oakes, Mariotta, Khlem's, Forest Farm, Gilbert and his kid, High Country Garden, etc...then I will end up getting graft paper, and tracing paper, and start doodling about what I want, which is almost never what I do...but it's nice to dream and let the "creative juices" flow.

Gardening, physically will be done for the season, but mentally, no way. All of the things I brought indoors, to mist, and check for mold/rot. The things I need to keep turning in the windows so they don't look like the leaning tower of pisa...We gardeners may not be digging/weeding/watering/spraying/planting/picking/hoeing/tilling/cultivating/or otherwise gardening outside, but we usually bring it inside for the winter...I know I do.

I look at winter as the staging area for spring...Is next year the year I try and tackle, and make space for Carol Mackie, or is it gonna be a Razzmatazz? Am I going to want to buy a Gold Ring, or possibly a Ruby Carousel? Will I want to walk through Beaver Creek, or stroll through Blue Shadow? Will I want to have brunch with Annabell, or the Sun Goddess? Or, will I finally be lured in by Midnight Rose, that one is quite intriguing...

Just things I'll be musing while I slowly settle the gardens for this year, and prepare for next...

Sue - enjoyed your post about letting your nails grow - me, too! Same with your comment about keeping the house clean though that leads people into thinking it's a wreck all year, which it isn't - rainy days are useful to gardeners.

HHH - how true. We're always thinking of where we could make space or reading about a new plant that means moving other plants and it gets as deep as a good mystery should be. Finding online nurseries that are new to us is also a thrill and can easily eat up lots of cold winter days.

Thom:
I react to winter, now, pretty much the same as you do. And I love the way you write about it. Very descriptive.

Pirl, I think I 'm probably called the Neighborhood Nut around here - I go outside on rainy days often (when it's warm enough) with my bright red umbrella! I deadhead or pull weeds, or somethin'!

Jack and I have matching umbrella hats for use in either sun or rain, so I understand your need to garden.

I also have a raincoat just for the garden and a huge beach umbrella...and a auto head lamp but I am not addicted yet.

And my kids think I'm nuts because I have the largest straw hat ever made, that is some sweet hat, and the gardens in the background are wonderful!

Thanks. We truly need everything possible to keep us in the garden and no excuses to come back inside.

I love the umbrella hats, but I know my kids would disown me and kick me out of the house if I actually wore one! Then I would be a homeless gardener . . . wandering the streets of Massachusetts, pruning everything in sight! (I can deal with that)

I allow the scarecrow to wear one of them during rain or on the really hot days.

That's brilliant!! :-) Love it.

Oooo, look at the swiss chard! Yummy!

I love swiss chard. My mom always made it with a thin tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil - was delicious.

I really should give it a try. One friend comes over and I give it to her but Victor's mom's recipe sounds tempting. We don't like the thick sauce so the recipe sounds ideal.

I'll ask my mom for the specifics.

Thank you.